Chapter Six: The Man With the Case
Mateo met them in the theater lobby before noon.
The Calder was a beautiful old building that smelled of dust, sawdust, and fresh paint.
Alder Spring had rented the auditorium for a weekend launch.
Workers hung blue fabric from the balcony and arranged decorative stones around the stage.
An enormous projection showed water dripping from a mountain ledge.
“There are no mountains anywhere near our town,” Nina whispered.
Mateo nodded.
“I suggested they use the old reservoir photographs.”
“What happened?” Ethan asked.
“They said the story needed to feel timeless.”
Mateo guided them toward the service corridor.
A small sign on one door read STAFF ONLY.
He stopped before reaching it.
“I can show you where the public rehearsal is happening,” he said.
“I can’t take you into their rented storage room.”
Ethan appreciated the distinction.
He was already dealing with one neighbor who thought fear justified breaking into other people’s property.
A young woman emerged from the corridor carrying an empty tray.
She had dark curls and wore a white Alder Spring jacket several sizes too large.
Mateo introduced her as June Harlow.
June studied Ethan’s face.
“You’re the man whose pipe was damaged,” she said.
“How do you know?”
“Adrian told everybody not to speak to you.”
Nina folded her arms.
“That’s an efficient way to make people curious.”
June looked over her shoulder.
“I have ten minutes before the rehearsal begins.”
They walked to the theater’s public courtyard.
June perched on the edge of a stone planter and twisted her staff badge between her fingers.
“The products are bottled in a small facility outside town,” she said.
“The water is treated and packed there.”
“Is that legal?” Ethan asked.
“Bottling water isn’t the problem by itself,” June replied.
“The claims are the problem.”
She explained that Alder Spring sold ordinary prepared drinking water at luxury prices while implying that its source was a unique natural formation.
The hidden tubing had been used to produce theatrical demonstrations during private previews.
Water presented as distinct samples from neighborhood sources had passed through equipment installed in the houses without informed permission.
June refused to discuss the installation mechanics.
She had never worked on that part of the system.
“Why bother involving real houses?” Nina asked.
“The story needed an address,” June said.
“Adrian wanted wealthy buyers to visit a real neighborhood and think they’d seen the source.”
Ethan shook his head.
“They built a performance around plumbing they didn’t own.”
June’s voice dropped.
“And they trained the staff to repeat stories about health benefits without making the claims directly.”
“Were you told to lie?”
“We were told to say customers reported remarkable experiences.”
“That’s a lie if the experiences were invented,” Nina said.
June nodded.
“Some of the testimonials were written before the customers visited.”
A metal door opened behind them.
The limping driver stepped into the courtyard with his black case.
His badge read DEREK VOSS, FIELD OPERATIONS.
He stopped when he saw Ethan.
“June, you’re supposed to be setting up the samples.”
“I took my break.”
Derek looked at Ethan’s face and recognized him.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“It’s a public theater,” Mateo replied.
“We are standing in the public courtyard.”
Derek adjusted the handle of his case.
“This conversation is over.”
June stood.
“Not for me.”
His expression tightened.
“Adrian said you were on your final warning.”
“Then he can put that in writing.”
Derek glanced toward the staff corridor.
“You’ll regret getting involved,” he told Ethan.
He walked away before anyone answered.
June stared after him.
“He used to be a decent person,” she said.
“Then he started believing Adrian could make every bad decision disappear.”
